Big Changes: Wine and Dine Half Marathon Challenge for 2016

We thought something looked a little fishy about the Wine and Dine Half Marathon last week. After talking about it on social media some semi-confirmations came through from unofficial sources. It was pretty exciting to think of the possibilities, but we knew we had to wait until today to hear the details.

It’s true: all of it.

Photo Credit: Disney

The Wine and Dine Half Marathon will now offer a challenge.

The new challenge will be called the Lumiere’s Two Course Challenge and the biggest shocker of all, none of the races will be held at night.

Dun dun duuuunnnnnn!

I know, I know, people are going to lose their minds over that aspect. I get it. But without the Osborne Lights, I think a lot of us would be disappointed anyway.

They were ahhhhmazing!

Don’t worry, the fun doesn’t stop after your run.

The after race party is still being offered in Epcot. It’s just wayyyy after the race.

Personally, I love that idea as it allows me to run, rest, and party into the wee hours of the morning celebrating my accomplishments. When I ran this race in 2013 I skipped the party because right after a half, I’m pooped! I need to recovery before letting my party animal come out.

So there’s a lot to discuss here.

Races are Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings with the party on Sunday night.

Prices are as follows:

Will this be another fast sellout? WHO KNOWS.

Traditionally when a challenge and 10K are added, those races sell very fast. But this race will add extra days to the trip (more than repeat runners were expecting) so it remains to be seen how the runners respond.

Plus. It’s another daytime race. Does this make it better or worse for most runners?

I know it’s certainly unexpected.

Let me know what you think about the changes. You can find all the details on rundisney.com.

Comments

I really do not like night races so I’m happy to hear it’s a morning race. This will be my first Wine & Dine and my 8th Disney race. I have always avoided this race because it was at night. Good news for me.

I’d be totally with you at the SW party at Hollywood Studios. I guess we’ll just have to make our own party next month. Hopefully that this is out of the way, we can actually get more info about the race since it is only a month out… course map, Dooney pre-order, anything?

Unfortunate change, it was one thing that set this race apart and running at night might not be for everyone but many of us loved it. I’ll be skipping it for a few years I suspect (I plan to run each race at least once).

I’m a little bummed that it’s no longer a night race. But I think I’m more bummed about the loss of Osborne Lights. I haven’t yet done W&D, but I don’t think these changes will keep me from signing up in the future. I’m also on board with the later party. After Princess, I was so tired and my legs were so completely done that my hubby had to help me walk to the buss. I don’t think I could have gone to a party on top of that!

I wish they had somehow kept the original date of the half- a Saturday race and Saturday night party. I like the party later but a lot of people will end up missing it on Sunday due to travel. Guess they can’t please everyone.

My wife and I have been running in the Wine and Dine every year since it started.
We are both disappointed that it will no longer be a night race. Will miss running through Animal Kingdom at night as well as Hollywood Studios. Hope that they change it back to a night race in the future.

Patty Holliday

If she isn’t chasing her four kids around Northern Virginia, Patty is chasing four bars on her phone to share her authentic and fun stories on social media and her blog, My No-Guilt Life. She’s also one half of the Marvel Moms, an online community for discussing the Marvel fandom. You can catch up on her runDisney fun at No-Guilt Disney.